In 2014, Danica Patrick got breast implants. She decided to do it because “it would…
make me feel more feminine and sexy,” which is why a lot of women get implants. And I assume Danica had the cash for a pretty good plastic surgeon, too. But even with access to high end cosmetic surgery, something went wrong, and it led to a health crisis that took years to solve. In 2017, Danica’s general health declined. She was fatigued, gaining weight and her hair started falling out. A year later, one of her breasts solidified around the implant, followed by the other. She continued to decline until 2022 when she realized it was the implants causing the problem. That’s when she was diagnosed with Breast Implant Illness (BII).
Danica Patrick is giving an inside look at the five-year health ordeal she experienced due to her breast implants.
Although the first three years with implants went well for Patrick, in 2017 she started noticing changes in her body and energy level, including fatigue, weight gain, dryness and hair loss.
“I thought maybe my hormones were off, so I just said, ‘Dig deeper, Danica, try harder,'” she says of her persistent health problems.
A year later, Patrick says one of her breasts turned rock-hard, and the other followed. “For so many years I didn’t hug people tight because I didn’t feel like pushing these little balloons into them. Whenever I was with a guy, I could not stop thinking that they knew they were fake,” Patrick explains.
“I went down a pretty deep rabbit hole,” she says of trying to get answers. “I had every test that could be done.”
It wasn’t until early 2022 that she realized her implants may be the problem after seeing a series of videos on social media about Breast Implant Illness, or BII.
BII symptoms have been reported with all types of breast implants and can occur immediately after implantation or years later. The top five most common symptoms associated with BII are fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, anxiety and hair loss, according to the FDA.
Along with BII, the FDA has identified a possible association between breast implants and the development of breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“When there’s an inflammatory response, it wears your body out. So for women experiencing BII, their system is just not working as it should,” says board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Shaun Parson, who treated Patrick. “It’s important for women to put their health first and their aesthetic goals second.”
In March, Patrick decided to get her implants removed and she says the results were instant. She hopes other women experiencing similar symptoms won’t feel so alone.
“Trust your intuition,” she urges. “Get them removed, and see how you feel.”
When I first read that Danica’s breast turned “rock hard,” I thought of course it’s the implants! But it’s always easy to diagnose something when you know the answer already. Those symptoms are synonymous with perimenopause, I’m sure plenty of people wrote it off as that. Even Danica said she thought it was her hormones. But if BII can lead to two different forms of lymphomas, make sure you see a doctor ASAP if you have any of those symptoms listed.
The good news is, Danica said as soon as she removed her implants she started feeling better. I’m sure it would suck to take out something you put in to feel better about yourself. But if it’s literally poisoning you, listen to your body, like Danica said.
And look, I know Danica is not the most popular person. But the message here is about BII and recognizing symptoms, not any of her other BS.
Photo credit: Jordan Hinton/Avalon Red and Instagram
This article is timely for me. As I was dropping cash getting my Botox refreshed earlier this week, I caught myself wondering why I do this to myself and will my Botox for me someday be like my mother’s tanning to be “pretty.” I know breast implants do not = Botox, but my greater point being how far we go—and how much risk we put ourselves at—all to look good? And I cannot lie…I look way better now that i got my periodic ‘Tox. I am torn. Anyone else have that struggle?
To me, it’s not just the risk. It’s also the time, the effort, the money, the intellect we devote to looking a certain way. I firmly believe that it’s used against women to keep us second-class. But I get you – I want to look good for myself, I want that little extra kick in my step when I feel I look put together. But then I think of how happy women become when they hit a certain age and say “screw it, this is who I am” and I try to keep that in mind when I get ready. I’ve simplified to doing very little for my looks, and honestly, I’ve never been happier. Happy and relaxed has done more for my looks than anything else (and active, that helps a lot). Good luck in your journey!
@Josephine your response made my heart soar! Thank you for the nuanced take and support. Good to know others feel this, and yes I 100 percent see this as “keeping the woman down.”
Maybe because I’m busty and unloved, I don’t get how so many people think big boobs equals femininity and attractiveness.
Your comment was very thought provoking. However, having scowled my entire life, my “11’s” made me look constantly angry, so much so that Im asked to soften them during shoots or on stage. Would I make the decision to get Botox if I wasn’t an actor, probably not. But not looking and being perceived as upset or angry all the time has changed my perspective on the botchulism.
I’m flat as a board and broad-shouldered so it’s a double whammy for me. I’ve thought about breast implants for years but my body forms adhesions with surgery so I’ve stayed away. I know breast implants would go horribly for me. I’m 46 now and it’s taken years to accept my body. When I was younger, I used to go to bed running though a list of all the things I’d change about my body. I’d fall asleep before I got to the end of the list. I realized how harmful this was. Over the years, I shifted that list into more practical ones like having 20/20 vision instead of needing glasses, or having straighter legs so that my ankle/knee/hip alignment wouldn’t cause me pain.
I also told myself I would never wear makeup on a daily basis bc people need to see natural faces. I invested in serums (super happy with the results) but I will never wear foundation because guess what, skin ages and it’s natural to have dark spots. I hate that the beauty industry preys on our insecurities and makes us feel like we have to be bound, painted, and tucked into oblivion. I refuse to participate.
Good for Danica. We live in a society that fully supports suffering for beauty and it’s scary how we just don’t know the long term effects of any of these procedures. Nothing wrong with getting nipped and tucked. But it’s important to know that none are 100 percent without risk cause the industry puts profits over our health (see Linda evangelista and cool sculpting).
For me, I made the decision to put my health first.
I hit 60 and cancer and heart disease run heavy in my family.
Now days I accept myself as I am, dress for comfort, no hair dyes or makeup even because, I finally accept this is what I like look.
I also work in healthcare so it’s not as if my job depends on my looks as if I was in the public eye.
I really disagree on all the plastic surgeries celebs put themselves thru and cosmetic procedures are so popular, think Kardashians and Youtube stars, they are all starting to look alike to me.
Most procedures have risks, it’s up to each person to make their choice.
Reading comments like this have helped me to think more gracefully about my own aging. Thank you.
Around 35 I made a “deal” with my body that I would ask a lot of it but I would take care of it well, and in turn my body is “allowed” to look however it needs to. Having just turned 40 this year, I’m finally dropping my last bit of vanity about how I look in photos. I took a photo with some of my students yesterday and I look tired and a bit disheveled, but I’m smiling, and they’re smiling, because it was it was a happy moment. I’m done tossing out photos of good times just because I don’t like the lighting, or I have a little double-chin, or my hair looks bad. That stuff just doesn’t matter to me as much as the happy moments.
@HeyKay — totally with you on this. I just turned 70, stopped dying my hair at 60, rarely wear makeup and dress for comfort, not style. I remember back in my 20s, 30s, even 40s I was so concerned with my looks. But as you say, nowadays I care about my health and happiness more. I had reconstructive surgery after breast cancer in 2016 — the surgeon harvested skin and tissue from my abdomen to transplant into the top half of my breast that had been removed. Other than that, no to plastic surgery, injectibles, botox, etc., yes to lots of healthy food and exercise, no to sun tanning and smoking, and maintain good skin care routines. I like the way I look aux naturale.
When I think about cosmetic surgery I think picture the worse outcome if the surgeon really messes up. Do I currently look worse than that? No I do not. So I’d never take the risk. Plus it’s not like I spend all day looking in a mirror and why should I care about other people being forced to look at my wrinkles or gray hair? If they don’t like it that is their problem. I’m clean and well groomed and dress appropriately for most occasions. I refuse to do more.
@heykay Totally with you there, but I think the important thing to emphasize when we default to “it’s a personal choice” is that women Are.Not.Told with any emphasis about BII. Can confirm, as I went through a double mastectomy for breast cancer earlier this year. I went into the process not wanting implants, but it was rather eye-opening how little the risks are discussed, even with pointed questions to practitioners. A lot of them don’t believe that BII exists, a number flat out refuse to remove implants when their patients beg them to do so. Meanwhile, because their doctors don’t tell them and even gaslight them that it can’t possibly be related or it’s all in their heads (sound familiar, ladies?), many women haven’t connected the dots about why they’re having such a cascade of bad health, living in physical pain, battling autoimmune disorders and malfunctioning thyroids, gaining weight like they’re on steroids, losing significant amounts of hair.
And capsular contraction isn’t even BII—that’s a *very* regular and common complication. Happens All.TheTime.
(Hecate: can you correct your text? Capsular contraction is not the implant itself solidifying. It’s your body forming such hard scar tissue around the implant—your body is trying to protect itself against the foreign body—that the pocket of tissue where the implant sits is hard to the touch and causes it to move painfully against the surrounding muscles or be pulled up weirdly out of position.)
No surprise that women are guinea pigs in the medical world and that almost no data is collected on these issues, so just want to emphasize for readers here that if you think Danica’s experience is an outlier, I know some heartbreaking Facebook groups of thousands of women to introduce you to.
Please weigh your own good health so much higher than beauty, ladies.
Whenever I briefly consider implants after having kids, this is what I come back to. To me, it’s not worth the possible health risks. Glad she was finally able to figure it out and get some relief. Glad she’s sharing her story.
I always think of that poor woman over here who had some minor eye lift surgery or something because she’d seen other school mums looking refreshed after a bit of cosmetic intervention. Her surgeon said he had a new procedure and it was great. She ended up with huge damage to her face and it is permanent. She lost her business and I believe her marriage ended. It affected her relationship with her young kids, who found it difficult to get used to her. This is of course the very worst case scenario but it stays in my mind.
I worked with a plastic surgeon for 15 years. I saw what women put themselves through to look/feel better about who they are. Nose jobs, liposuction, implants, facelifts and on and on.
I decided early on that none of that was/is for me and you would be surprised at the number of women who told me I should think about this, that or the other procedure (note: the surgeon I worked for NEVER said anything of the sort to me) and take a little more pride in my appearance. I wore scrubs y’all and have never been a huge fan of makeup every day and as for coloring my hair? Nah.
I actually told one woman who was a repeat customer for facelift and boots that she could change the OUTSIDE all she wanted and good for her, but nothing stops the changing on the INSIDE.
Good for Danica Patrick for going public with this. It can only help
I remember watching a UK programme years ago about plastic surgery addiction, and a clinic receptionist said she saw women come back over and over with new “problem areas”. She said with this kind of surgery you should pick your battles carefully and stick to the plan.
I’m not a big fan of hers, but I still think she was the best thing that ever happened to Aaron Rodgers.
My grandmother was one of the first women in the state of Texas to have breast implants shortly after the procedure was developed. One of the implants began leaking, so she had them removed and replaced with second set.
She was hopeful that this would be the end of her medical issues, but her second attempt was even worse than her first. That time both leaked, with her right breast implant developing GANGRENE inside of her body.
Unfortunately, their second and final removal was not even close to the end of the story. She developed all manner of issues due to the procedures, but what remains most vivid in my mind are the little round sores she still develops every so often, most frequently around her wrists, the insides of her elbows, and in her armpits where little bits of silicone work their way out of her body. Think of the sticky, clear silicone used to attach samples to ads in magazines or mailers and you’re 95% of the way there – in texture, at least.
Dow Chemical never admitted to any fault or even that silicone poisoning actually occurred to any woman at all, but I still remember taking my grandmother to meetings with her attorneys, although I used the term loosely. These were not quiet discussions in an office, or even a conference room. No, they were held in in rented hotel ballrooms, filled to the brim with other women whose stories were distressingly similar.
There’s been a fascinating programme here in the UK on ITV. Me & Breast Implants with Hannah Spearitt who used to be in the band S Club 7. All about breast implant illness and trying to get it registered properly.
I’m getting implants to make up for a bilateral mastectomy so this is probably good info for me to know.
I hope she fully recovers and she is giving good advice. Too bad it will not slow down the initial procedure itself, which is de rigeur for very young women trying to make it in many fields (de rigeur because of sexism, misogyny, etc.).
Jessie, best of luck.